Dynamixor The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

FuzzyTagz If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.

Juana what a terribly boring film. I'm sorry but this is absolutely not deserving of best picture and will be forgotten quickly. Entertaining and engaging cinema? No. Nothing performances with flat faces and mistaking silence for subtlety.

Guillelmina The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

Polaris_DiB Takeshi Miike is one of my favorite filmmakers, almost for no better reason than that he's the only filmmaker I've ever seen that can set off my gag reflex. Although he shows versatility as a director with dramas like Sabu and children friendly fare like "Zebraman", he is much more well known as the hyper-violent, hyper-gory, and hyper-kinetic director of "Ichi the Killer". "Graveyard of Honor" is another one of his extreme movies. It's not as fast-paced, or even as weird, as "Ichi", but boy, does it deliver.The basic plot is that a dishwasher ends up saving the life of a Yakuza boss when he knocks out an assassin that is shooting up his restaurant. The Yakuza boss thanks him by making him his right-hand man, but the dishwasher turns out to be pretty much a sociopath, showing no fear, regret, or capability for patience, thus resulting in a violent film full of miscommunication and misunderstandings. The best part is that none of the other characters really seem that willing to take him down, so his blunt approach to killing whoever he feels goes pretty much unchecked.However, the movie is pretty slight on the plot. Really, it's more like a continuing cycle of prison-violence-heroin, prison-violence-heroin. If that description gives some pause, especially considering that this movie is over two hours long, have no fear--it's the most interesting cycle of prison-violence-heroin ever filmed, because one of Miike's primary strengths lies in his use of hyperbole. When a character jumps to his death, he doesn't just splatter; a wave of blood washes over a wall. The fascination of the character himself is matched by the deranged trust that most of the other Yakuza place in him. We're almost as attached to him as his wife, who, it seems, he purposefully got addicted to heroin so that she would depend on him.It's also, like many of Miike's works, darkly comedic in a very sick way. Just don't expect to be laughing all that often, as it's more likely you'll be running to the bathroom trying not to vomit. It also sticks with you for a while, unless you're actually as desensitized as the main character is. If that's the case, I recommend finding a nice asylum to live in for a while.--PolarisDiB

kuuzo This is one movie that needs to be released in the West, it is a hardcore dark violent drama, not the typical cartoony Miike. This is probably one of the better Miike movies I've seen, no bizarre cartoon violence or strange events, a straight up yakuza crime violence extravaganza, and apparently a remake of a 1975 movie of the same name. Definitely better than the sort of dragging Araburu Tamashitachi. The lead character Ishimatsu is played by Kishitani Goro, the bad guy from "Returner". In an interview on the DVD, Miike said he wanted to make a movie about a man who didn't learn to be a Yakuza by becoming a Yakuza, but who was born that way... The main character is BAD, far worse than "Ichi the Killer's" Kakihara. Whereas Kakihara is a sort of good-natured amoral sado-masochist, Ishimatsu is a bad natured insane sociopathic drug addict killer rapist. Lots of corpses in this one, men, women, doesn't matter to Ishimatsu. Even more corpses than Ichi the killer or Dead or Alive, and some real violent and realistic knife kills and handgun assassinations, pipe beatings, and other fun. Not for people who shy away from realistic violence and sadism.

mute99 A slow burning Miike movie interspersed with bouts of extreme and graphic violence that is toe-curling real. I found the story almost Shakespearian in its handling of the dishwashers "journey to hell" and the strong themes of honour and loyalty that run throughout. I find Miikes misogynistic treatment of women disturbing, but interesting. He seems to relish every kick and slap.. but then he relishes the violence wreaked on everyone. It just jars (my Western sensibility ?)so much to see Ishimatsu brutalise his "wife".Look out for Miike as the assassin who Ishimatsu knocks out and thereby starts his self-destructing rampage ... and what a scene ! As good as the intro of "Dead or Alive"I may try to find Kinji Fukasaku's 1975 original which was equally controversial on its release....All I can say is move over Coppola and Scorsese.. here comes Miike..

Simon Booth BATTLE ROYALE was the movie that brought the name Kinji Fukasaku to the lips of most people in the west for the first time, but he'd made his name in Japan many years earlier with a series of gritty and violent gangster movies that changed the face of the genre. In 1975 he made one such movie, called GRAVEYARD OF HONOR. In 2002, Takashi Miike decided to make a movie called GRAVEYARD OF HONOR too.I haven't seen Fukasaku's original movie, so I have no idea how Miike's version compares. Normally you would expect a Miike movie to bear little resemblance to its source material, but in this case I'm not so sure.GRAVEYARD OF HONOR tells the story of a man called Ishimatsu (Goro Kishitani), who is propelled into a relatively high ranking position in the Yakuza after saving the family head's life. His violent personality makes him feared and perhaps respected, but eventually gets him into trouble. He p***es off the family, and to such a degree that no little finger is going to get him off the hook. The stage is set for a small scale gang war.GRAVEYARD OF HONOR is a much more conventional yakuza movie than any of his others, e.g. DEAD OR ALIVE. It's played pretty much straight, missing the wit and manic invention that characterises Miike at his most playful. Unfortunately, it's also missing the complex 3-dimensional characters that make Miike's more dramatic movies so good. It's a fairly straight genre movie that doesn't scratch particularly deep below the surface, in other words. This may be because Miike wished to stay faithful to the source material, but it is rather a surprise from the director whose work is normally amongst the most inventive in the world. Rather a disappointment, too.Miike can definitely do straight drama, but in movies like RAINY DOG and BLUES HARP it is the fascinating, believable and sympathetic characters that make the films stand out from the crowd. Characters in GRAVEYARD OF HONOR are much harder to relate to, and their intentions and motivations are often unclear or seemingly thin. In particular it's hard to understand Ishimatsu's actions, beyond the facts that he's very violent and not very smart. It's very hard to empathasize or even sympathize with him, and very difficult to actually like or care for him too. Even an anti-hero needs some humanity we can relate to, or at least a shed load of charisma. Goro Kishitani injects his character with neither.I'd been led to expect GRAVEYARD OF HONOR to be somewhat action packed, and there are a few scenes of fairly brutal violence but nothing like the cool stylised action of DEAD OR ALIVE: FINAL. In fact, most of the movie is very slow - rather boring even. I actually took a break for an hour and a half in the middle to go and do some work, which isn't a great sign GRAVEYARD OF HONOR is probably not a bad gangster movie, but it is very disappointing as a Takashi Miike movie. Pretty much any director could have handled the job, and only a couple of scenes show any of Miike's characteristic style, wit or perverse genius. Basically, I'd hoped for something more.Not recommended much.The ebay DVD has a decent anamorphic transfer, presumably ripped from the Japanese release and re-encoded to fit on a DVD-5. Sound is functional stereo, and subtitles are optional and very well translated. If you want to see the movie, this is your best option for now.